I'm moving to Gijon, Spain next month, planning to ship everything except a bike, panniers and essentials. Then fly to S. France and spend 1-2 weeks cycling the Eastern section of the Camino de Santiago, starting in Roncevalles and turning off at Leon. Has anyone on here toured the Camino by bike? I have a few questions, hope someone can help:
1. I have a choice of Fuji Touring or Kona Smoke, which would be best bearing in mind I want to stick to the route as much as I can?
2. I understand the pilgrim's pass which allows you to stay in hostels along the way is available in Roncevalles - do you need to apply in advance for this or just turn up? Anyone know where exactly to get this pass and any other requirements.
3. Any other advice would be welcome!

I know the Camino, I made it from Sto Domingo de la Calzada to Santiago two years ago.

If you want to stick to the original route please be aware that several parts are very hard (in the original route), so in this case I would recommend a MTB. You can always choose alternative and less hard road/paths, so a touring bike will do the job as well.

As for hostels, probably several will be closed at this time, but you don't need to apply in advance.

1. If you're sticking to walk path than a mtb would be good, but they're also doable on a touring bike of course.

2. Just show up will do, if they don't have more beds, they'll let you just sleep on the floor. No requirements to get the pass, not necessarily to be catholic. I got mine from a local church or you can get one directly from the refugios.

Bikes: Raleigh Aspen touring/off-road hybrid, and a Bob Yak trailer. Yak very useful for us car-free types that like to buy lots of beer.

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I did it last summer via the bicycle path, which crosses the foot path or runs right along it so often that you don't notice much of a discrepancy. Stick to the Camino bike path, and you won't need a mountain bike.

Bikes: Raleigh Aspen touring/off-road hybrid, and a Bob Yak trailer. Yak very useful for us car-free types that like to buy lots of beer.

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I don't know aboiut Roncavalles, but I k´now for a fact that you can walk into the Pilgrim office in St Jean Pied du Port and obtain your pilgrim's passport. I think it costs a €2 donation, it might even be free.

And also, the bike maps I mentioned by Esterbauer are in German, and are called the Jakobs radweg. Jakobsweg is German for Camino de Santiago.

Ah ha! Finally I found it on the internet, been giving me a hard time not remembering its name nor its publisher. I used A practical guide for Pilgrims on my tour, it's got maps (apart from the ones in the book mine's got seperate maps for handlebar bag, but don't know about other editions), elevation charts, pics, background histories, everything you need to know, pretty good.